Æthelwold of Carlisle

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Athelwold
Denomination Catholic
Senior posting
See Carlisle
Title Bishop of Carlisle
Period in office 1133–1157
Predecessor new foundation
Successor Paulinus of Leeds
Religious career
Previous post Prior of Nostell
Personal
Date of death 1156 or 1157
For other uses, see Æthelwulf.

Athelwold (or Æthelwulf, Aethelwulf, Aldulf, Ethelwulf, or Adelulf) was the first Bishop of Carlisle.

[edit] Life

His name and the fact that he owned lands in Yorkshire suggests that Athelwold was of English birth, and not a Norman.[1] He was an Augstinian canon who first served King Henry I of England as his confessor.[2] Sometime about 1122, he persuaded Henry to help a group of clerics at Nostell find a new site for their priory.[3] Athelwold then became prior of the newly established Nostell Priory.[4] Some reports give Athelwold a role as an advisor to King Henry during the selection of William de Corbeil as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1123. While prior he built the crypt of the monastic church and represented King Henry at a papal council held at Rheims in 1131. He also founded daughter houses of Nostell at Scone in Scotland.[5]

He was nominated to the see of Carlisle about June of 1133, and consecrated in August of 1133.[6] He installed Augustinian canons into his newly founded cathedral, which was the only cathedral in England with a cathedral chapter composed of that order of canons.[3] In 1135, King David I of Scotland invaded and annexed the counties that comprised the see of Carlisle, and drove Athelwold out. Athelwold spent the next few years at King Stephen of England's court. After the Battle of the Standard in 1138, the papal legate Alberic made peace between Athelwold and King David, and Athelwold spent time at the Scottish king's court after this.[5][7]

Athelwold signed the charter of liberties issued by King Stephen of England right after the king's coronation.[8] He later was a supporter of Henry Murdac for the see of York, against King Stephen's choice of William FitzHerbert.[9][10] When Murdac was driven from his see in 1148, Athelwold welcomed him to Carlisle. He also set up the organization of the diocese on such a firm footing that the fifty year vacancy that transpired until the next bishop of Carlisle took office did little damage to the diocese.[5] He retained the priorate of Nostell until 1153,[4] when he resigned due to ill health.[5] After the accession of King Henry II of England, Athelwold attended the new king's court.[11] He died on June 16, 1157 or on May 25, 1156.[4][6]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 400
  2. ^ Hollister Henry I p. 464
  3. ^ a b Hollister Henry I p. 398
  4. ^ a b c British History Online Bishops of Carlisle accessed on October 20, 2007
  5. ^ a b c d Summerson "Athelwold (d. 1156/7)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online Edition accessed November 20, 2007
  6. ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 235
  7. ^ Stringer "State-Building" in Appleby Government, Religion and Society in Northern England p. 49
  8. ^ Powell The House of Lords p. 64
  9. ^ Barlow The English Church 1066-1154 p. 98
  10. ^ Appleby The Troubled Reign of King Stephen p. 163-165
  11. ^ Stringer "State-Building" in Appleby Government, Religion and Society in Northern England p. 61

[edit] References

  • Appleby, John C. and Paul Dalton (ed.) Government, Religion and Society in Northern England 1000-1700 Stroud: Sutton Publishing 1997 ISBN 0-7509-1057-7
  • Appleby, John T. The Troubled Reign of King Stephen 1135-1154 New York:Barnes & Noble 1969 reprint 1995 ISBN 1-56619-848-8
  • Barlow, Frank The English Church 1066-1154 London:Longman 1979 ISBN 0-582-50236-5
  • Bartlett, Robert England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075-1225 Oxford:Clarendon Press 2000 ISBN 0-19-822741-8
  • British History Online Bishops of Carlisle accessed on October 20, 2007
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
  • Hollister, C. Warren Henry I ed. by Amanda Clark Frost New Haven:Yale University Press 2001 ISBN 0-300-08858-2
  • Powell, J. Enoch and Keith Wallis The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540 London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1968
  • Stringer, Keith J. "State-Building in Twelfth-Century Britain: David I, King of Scots, and Northern England" in Appleby, John C. and Paul Dalton (ed.) Government, Religion and Society in Northern England 1000-1700 Stroud: Sutton Publishing 1997 ISBN 0-7509-1057-7
  • Summerson, Henry "Athelwold (d. 1156/7)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 Online Edition accessed November 20, 2007
Roman Catholic Church titles
New creation Bishop of Carlisle
1133–1157		 Succeeded by
Paulinus of Leeds
Persondata
NAME Athelwold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aethelwulf; Æthelwulf; Adelulf; Aldulf; Ethelwulf
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of Carlisle
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH June 16, 1157
PLACE OF DEATH